


Victor of the Jungle

by olosta



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Jungle, Field Research, Humor, Illustrated, Inspired by Tarzan, Languages, M/M, Yuuri is an expert on Primates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 15:21:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16307696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olosta/pseuds/olosta
Summary: The sensational discovery of a previously unknown species of large apes on a small island south-east from the African coast leads to an exploration expedition, which is headed by profesor Cialdini, the head of the Biology Department at the Detroit University. Yuuri, who had just started his doctoral thesis on higher primates, grabs his chance and participates in the field research that could boost his studies, as well as his scientific reputation.Yuuri doesn't know yet, but this will be the biggest adventure of his life - and he discovers something more than just apes.





	1. The Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Soo, basically, this was inspired by Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Obviously (though the title is taken from a comedy with Brendan Frazer, "George of the Jungle").
> 
> For the purpose of this story, all of the younger "skaters" are aged up to be in their first half - middle of their twenties. The "uncles" remain the same age :)
> 
> Tags will be updated as the story goes on.
> 
> Kindly betaed by [Saniika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saniika/pseuds/Saniika) and [natsubaki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/natsubaki/pseuds/natsubaki) <3

  
[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/140095685@N02/44429380385/in/dateposted/)  


 

Yuuri propped his chin on his hand as he looked out of the tiny window. He wondered whether his decision to participate in this expedition had been a mistake – well, not that he could change anything now, sitting in a small, rickety air-plane that held their expedition group and part of their equipment. But still, Yuuri wondered how he was going to survive the next couple of weeks confined to a small space with all these people. He recalled the moment he had packed his supply of anxiety medicine, tucked safely into his hand luggage, and calmed down a bit. He knew he had made the right decision.

***

When Phichit barged into the lab one afternoon, all excited, Yuuri didn't know it was to be the beginning of the biggest adventure of his life. Some time ago, there had been a sensational discovery of an – until now – undocumented subspecies of big apes on the island of Bala, some three hundred miles south-east from Madagascar. The island held no special resources and lay way out of any frequented sea route, so the discovery had been a complete coincidence. The new subspecies seemed to be endemic to the island, but to determine with any certainty that it was indeed a new species, a scientific observation was called for. Several departments at their university applied for a grant to an expedition, including their biology department, and they were successful. 

"And guess who is to be the leading scientist, Yuuri, " Phichit's eyes twinkled with excitement as he caught both of Yuuri's hands in his own. Yuuri had an inkling, but decided to indulge his friend and room-mate. "Dunno, who?"

"Ciao-Ciao!" shouted Phichit. 

Yuuri winced. "Peach, you know you should call him Professor Cialdini here," he hissed, looking around.

"Yeah, OK. But you know what this means, right?"

Yuuri sighed. "What?"

"Yuuri," Phichit pouted. "Of course, it means he's going to select a team, and that means you're going too, and you're taking me with you!"

"Does it?"

Phichit rolled his eyes. Yuuri sighed; he knew he could be dense, sometimes... or perhaps it was just his anxiety blocking his neural circuits again. "Ok, I'm going, then?"

"Of course you are. You're his star student. Celestino will take you if you apply, for sure. And if you say you want me as an intern, he won't say no. And Yuuri, this would be perfect for your doctoral thesis!!! You were looking for some field project anyway, weren't you? Well, you won't get a better chance than this. You could observe some untouched species in the wild! And, and, you could write history! Yuuri, please! Think of it at least, OK?"

Well, Phichit was right. As a student of biology, observation in nature was something everyone aspired to. And Yuuri wanted to become a primatologist. So when he returned to their shared apartment after his hours were over in the lab, he informed Phichit he'd spoken with Celestino and they were both going to Bala.

Phichit squealed, informed his hamsters and his parents (in that order) about the exciting news, then wrestled Yuuri into at least a dozen selfies and updated all of his social media. After that he started to research "how to dress fashionably in a tropical weather" while Yuuri researched flights, the mandatory vaccinations and other necessary stuff, a "privilege" that came together with his position as his doctoral supervisor's personal assistant. 

But he was smiling; Phitchit should enjoy the freedom of a regular student as long as it lasted. Yuuri's job came with responsibilities, but it also paid his bills and enabled him to write his thesis. And were it not for Phichit... Honestly, Yuuri's life was better with Phichit, as more often than not his friend managed to pull him out of his shell – something that Yuuri would neglect were he left on his own. It was not like he was a shut-in; he just didn't look up entertainment on his own.

They met four years ago; Yuuri had been finishing his master and Phichit a had been newcomer fresh from Thailand, whose spoken English was much worse than his written. They were the only Asians in the course they shared, so of course they had to stick together, an explanation that Phichit had delivered with a cheeky grin as he'd plopped down next to Yuuri with definite purpose. Not many students decided to specialize in large primates, so to fill the course, they admitted introductory as well as advanced students. It was taught by the newly-appointed head of their department, a boisterous Italian professor named Celestino Cialdini. Together they laughed at the Italian's loud manners, but by the end of the first lesson, Yuuri was hooked – both on the lesson and on Phichit's cheerfulness and lightness of manner. 

Yuuri decided to pursue the subject for his PhD under Cialdini's supervision, also landing the assistant/lab supervisor job, and half a year later, Phichit was hired as a student intern.

After a few days of negotiations, a team of eleven people was put together for the expedition. As this was a unique opportunity, people from other departments were also invited. Thus they had three biologists plus two interns, as well as an entomologist and two botanists from Detroit. Joining them in Africa were an avian specialist from Russia and his intern, and a Canadian photographer completed their team. With a local guide and a trained nurse, they were then to be transported via boat to the isle of Bala. 

But of course, things didn't go as planned. A part of their equipment got lost during their flight from the US, so Celestino returned to trace it, as it was an expensive piece and they couldn't afford to lose it. Christophe, the post-doc and as far as Yuuri knew, the oldest member of the crew left, was appointed as their temporary supervisor. That said, Chris was only 26 – two years older than Yuuri. Which left Yuuri as the second-in-command, something he would have liked to avoid. But, as his bad luck wanted, he had already had to put an end to a staring contest between two of their team-mates:the intern Emil and Michele, the botanical doctoral student who was overly protective of his twin sister and colleague, Sara. Great, just what they needed for an expedition where the group members were supposed to spend most of their time cooperating! 

He felt relieved when the plane finally hit the ground. The landing was bumpy, just like the flight, but Yuuri was glad to feel solid ground under his feet again. A tall, gaunt man with dark, weathered skin welcomed them. He had a white beard and closely-cropped, salt-and pepper hair, but his brown eyes twinkled with energy as he greeted them. He introduced himself as Ngoro, their native guide and communication agent with the mainland, and ushered them to a mini-van and a jeep parked nearby. They distributed their staff and their belongings among the two cars, which took them to the nearby town where they would stay for the night. There they met the nurse, a tough-looking African woman of forty named Maria. The flight of their Russian colleague was delayed, Ngoro told them, so he would probably join them on the isle with professor Cialdini the next day or whenever they arrived.

Great, Yuuri thought, another complication.

Yuuri's stomach growled loudly. He was tired and exhausted, but more than that, he was hungry. The place they stayed for the night was small but cosy. He made use of the weak, but functioning wi-fi to let his family know he had safely arrived; from tomorrow on, they would only have a singular satellite phone for communication. Not that he minded; he looked forward to leaving civilisation behind for a while.

One by one, they trickled down to the dining room where the tables were already full of fragrant, steaming food from the local kitchen. Yuuri swallowed thickly; he sat down and dug into his food, tuning out the world around him. He didn't notice that Phichitt took several photos of him or that another small squabble erupted on the other end of the table again, this time between their entomologist, Seung-gil and Michele. But he couldn't miss the booming voice that preceded an energetic young man who stormed into the dining hall, followed by a harried-looking Ngoro.

"Greetings, the king has arrived! JJ is here!" the newcomer bellowed and bent his hands and fingers in a pose – of what, was a mystery.

The clanking and chatter stopped for a second as everyone stared at the boisterous newcomer.

"Who are you again?" asked Christophe.

"JJ!" Again that weird finger pose. "Jean-Jacques Leroy. Here to take the most amazing nature photos the world has ever seen. At your service," he said and honest-to-god bowed, sweeping the air with his hand.

There was a silent snort from Yuuri's side. "What a moron," Phichitt murmured under his breath. Yuuri chuckled.

The talk took up again, especially when the Canadian was seated at the table; the man never shut up, talking in a loud voice the entire time. Yuuri wondered how he managed to eat his dinner at all. Before the after-meal coffee and nightcap arrived, they learned everything about JJ's personal history, his family history and his beautiful, most amazing, wonderful fiancée. JJ informed them he intended to marry her after the end of this exploration and after winning the first prize for this year’s Nature Photography contest with his photos from the expedition. 

After a while, Yuuri let Christophe deal with the loud Canadian as he sneaked out of the hall and into his room; he wanted to use the last chance for privacy he was to have for the next weeks. He curled up on his bed the best he could and opened his diary, where he jotted down the first impressions of this mission. And all his troubles and fears.

***

When Yuuri came down into the dining hall in the morning bleary-eyed, hair tousled, everyone else was already at the table chatting. Luckily, the Canadian man kept his voice down, for which Yuuri was glad. He wasn't sure he had the energy to deal with that boorish man first thing in the morning. They packed up swiftly afterwards and boarded the small boat that was to take them to Bala. The journey took several hours, but the waters were calm and Yuuri really enjoyed the ride. The isle had no built harbour, but that was not a hindrance for their vessel. As far as Yuuri could see, the island was covered mostly by dense tree growth, with patches of sandy beaches scattered around the coast. They put up their camp on one of such beaches with sufficient space that stayed above the tide: four small tents for accommodation, two for scientific work and one for miscellaneous things, like dining and general meetings. Sara, Maria and the Russian intern were to share one tent, while Celestino, Christophe and the Russian colleague were placed into another. Phichitt snatched Yuuri and Seung-gil, the taciturn entomologist, for his tent. That left Emil, Michele and JJ in the last one. All in all, it could have gone worse, thought Yuuri as he helped to start up their electricity generator and set up their equipment in the other tents. Maria took all their vitals (which they were supposed to do every day from now, just to avoid any complications), and then Ngoro took leave from them.

Yuuri's heart sank when he realized they would spend the night all alone on this island, but Ngoro assured them they were in no danger, as the largest predator here was a leopard-like cat that was shy of strangers, and the apes didn't venture to this part of the island since there was nothing for them to eat here. He would return the next morning with professor Cialdini and the two Russians. For the first night, Yuuri hadn't slept a wink: first, a loud squabble broke out between JJ and Michele until Christophe stepped in; then, Seung-gil started to snore really loudly, and finally, the jungle had turned out unexpectedly loud (for there being no large predators, the racket sounded more than dangerous). 

In the morning, Ngoro arrived as promised, with Cialdini and two other figures in tow. One of them, a young woman, came forward with a large smile and introduced herself as Mila Babicheva. The other figure lagged behind; his shoulders sagged despondently, and he wore a large hoodie shadowing almost all of his face. Yuuri could only discern a sharp nose and blue eyes. 

The man finally trooped towards them and sighed heavily. "Good day," he said with a very strong Russian accent.

"Ah, yes, this is Dr. Popovich. He and his intern, Ms. Babicheva, will observe this island's birds. Please welcome them to the team!" said Celestino, introducing all of the others in turn.

Dr. Popovich ("But please call him Georgi," Mila whispered to Yuuri, who somehow found himself standing next to her, "otherwise he will throw a fit about his age," and winked at him) shrugged off his hoodie, revealing a thin face topped with short, dark and said, "Hello, American colleagues. Nice to meet you," in the saddest voice. 

Phichitt snorted. "Dude, the only American here is JJ, and he is Canadian."

JJ, as if on cue, made his signature gesture (it was slowly dawning on Yuuri that the crooked fingers were supposed to represent the initials of his name). "I'm JJ! Welcome, welcome, is there anything you want to know about the amazing land of Canada? I assure, you it's just as good as the US, actually, better..." he blabbered on, grabbing the startled Russian by the shoulders and pulling him towards the tents.

Yuuri was about to go after Celestino, when he felt a slight tug on his sleeve. He turned; Mila, still standing next to him, said, "Now that the doctor has found his entertainment, would you please be my guide?" She batted her eyelashes. 

"Huh?" Yuuri felt confused.

"Ah, could you please show me to my tent?"

Ah. "Of course, please follow me," said Yuuri as he started to walk, without looking back to check whether the girl was following him. He felt as if he was missing something. 

"Here," he stood in front of one tent. "You share it with Sara, our botanist, and the nurse. See you later," he said and fled.

"But..." Mila looked after him for a while, then shrugged. "Oh well, it's not like he can go far on this island," she murmured as she crawled into the tent.

***

Slowly but steadily, they established a work routine. After breakfast and a quick rinse in the nearby stream, they planned their day's work. Some of them stayed in the camp, while the others made small expeditions into the surrounding area, trying to find traces of the ape tribe. They lunched separately but met for a dinner in the largest tent. Georgi turned out to be quite a nice guy – as long as he didn't mope after his ex-girlfriend, Anya, as they learned on their first evening. JJ was obnoxiously loud but also entertaining; a kind of truce arose between Michele and Emil. Even Seung-gil sometimes contributed to the conversation, although mostly it was bug-related. Yuuri's scientific diary was filling up neatly.

But there were other things that bothered Yuuri. For some reason, Mila always seemed to find a place next to Yuuri during and after dinner. Yuuri liked to chat with her, but she had a disquieting habit of putting her palm on Yuuri's arm (or on one, terrifying occasion, on his knee), leaning close to him until they were shoulder to shoulder, and winking at him at times. 

"Do you think she might be flirting with me?" he whispered to Phichit one evening. 

The traitor snorted. "Dude, we have a wager going on as to when she will finally tumble you on bed."

Yuuri spat out his drink and started to cough. "What? But I... I'm not... Peach!"

His friend stared, then he pulled Yuuri aside to the tables they kept medical supplies on. "If you're not interested in her, tell her. You're sending all the false signals."

"Am I?"

"Yeah?" Phichit shook his head and put his glass down on the table. "You indulge her touching you, and you smile back at her and listen to her and – oh no," he stopped as he watched Yuuri lift the glass he had placed on some paper, swipe its bottom on his sleeve, and place it on the empty area of the table. 

"You're just being all well brought up and polite, is that it?" Phichit shook his head, unable to keep the mirth out of his voice.

Yuuri nodded, scrutinizing his shoes. "I didn't know how to tell her. Shoving her away just seemed rude. You remember when I did it once to that girl back in Detroit, and I felt like a shit afterwards," he murmured.

"Well, you should tell her you're not interested in women."

"It's not that..." Yuuri frowned. "Phichit you know that's not... I'm just not interested in anyone, it seems," he finished lamely.

"Yeah, but that one time you had a fling it was with a guy."

"Well, yeah. It's just not my priority right now. Please, can we discuss something other than my sex life?"

Phichit sighed and clapped Yuuri on his back. "I'll talk to her. The things I do for my friend..." he sang as he stood up and walked over to Mila.

"Thank you!" Yuuri called after him.

***

"Hey, Yuuri," Mila sat down to Yuuri, who was still withdrawn at the medical table.

"Hey," Yuuri said. "Listen, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you myself, I just..."

But Mila waved him away. "It's OK. I'm not mad or anything. It's just that we Russians are like that – forward – if we see something that we want," she laughed. "Can we still be friends? I really like you."

"Sure," Yuuri smiled with relief.

"I'll try not to be so touchy-feely."

"'s OK, as long as I know you're not trying to seduce me."

Mila laughed with a twinkle in her blue eyes. Did all the Russians have such gorgeous eyes, Yuuri wondered as he smiled back at her. It wasn't too often that he made a new friend that easily.

***

Yuuri patted his forehead with a handkerchief which was becoming steadily darker with sweat and a myriad of dirt. It had been a very hot day today. He swigged a mouthful from his water bottle and bent over the pile of droppings he was examining. With a pair of forceps, he extracted several undigested bits of fruit stones, sniffed at them, and noted down the colour and consistency. "It seems we found their trace," he said to Seung-gil, who was occupied with the bunch of insects drawn by the pile of excrements. 

"It's not fresh, though," the other man said. Yuuri nodded. It was still a trace.

"So, when you're finished poking around in the shit, can we move elsewhere? There's nothing interesting to capture here," butted in JJ, waving his camera around .

"Yes, yes... let me just extract this – " Yuuri answered absent-mindedly, bent over the pile.

"Besides," JJ soldiered on, "it's almost dinnertime... Whoa!"

His complains ended in a high-pitched scream. Yuuri didn't manage to look up at what was going on. There was a roar as of an enraged cat, someone knocked into him from behind, and Yuuri threw his hands in front of him to halt his fall, right into the still-soft middle of the pile. Someone shouted "Run!!!"

Yuuri's mind went into a panic mode, and he did what he did best – followed the instruction. He sprang up and ran, blind to where he was heading. After a good ten minutes of a mad dash through a dense undergrowth and after he almost twisted his ankle in a mud-hole full of water, he stopped, his breath heaving. Nothing was chasing him. He was all alone. The jungle around him was eerily quiet, his harsh breathing the only sound. He turned around; he had no idea where he was. The skies were turning dark; it was not too late yet, but it seemed it was going to rain. Rather than trying to find his way back in the brewing storm, it would be better to find some shelter here, the rational part of Yuuri's mind reminded him. He forced hilself to calm down his rabbiting heart and was about to wipe off the sweat trickling down his brow when he remembered his hands were full of shit. Literally.

With a disgusted scowl, Yuuri bent down and tried to wipe the worst of it on some leaves, but to clean them he needed water. He looked around, chest still heaving, and remembered the mud-hole he stumbled over. It wasn't hard to find, and Yuuri was right. The mud slowly gave way to muddy water and then a relatively clear, small pond. Yuuri squatted and thrust his hands inside, rubbing vigorously.

Suddenly, there was a huge splash in front of him. A figure burst out of water, holding a thrashing fish in their pale, hairless hands.

Because it was a man. A naked man. Who now stood in water that went only up to his knees. Very naked.

Yuuri screamed.

The man screamed, too. 

Yuuri sprang up, slipped on the mud and went down hard. The last thought he had before his head connected with the hard surface was _he has blue eyes_ , before everything went dark.


	2. The White Ape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri is lost in the jungle. Who is the mysterious man that jumps out at him from the pond?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, I'm not dead yet. I've promised I won't abandon this fic, but it seems I'm unable to adhere to regular updating. For which I apologize very much, and if you still stuck with this story, thank you! As a  
> I hope you'll have fun with thich chapter and you'll enjoy it as I did when I wrote it.
> 
> Contains one illustration!

*Meanwhile... *

Seung-gil slowed their mad dash, grabbing JJ's arm. "Stop!" he yelled.

JJ whirled, lost his balance and fell on his butt. He yelped, "Are you mad? The predator – "

"There is no predator, moron!!!" hissed Seung-gil, throwing open his arms. "We just panicked. The cat was just as surprised as we were."

"Oh," JJ said as he stood up, making a fuss of dusting off his clothes. "Wait," he stopped abruptly and turned. "Where is Yuuri?"

"Um... " Seung-gil looked around him.

"Yuuri!" JJ called. "Yuuu-riiiiiii!"

No answer. The jungle suddenly went eerily quiet, no birds chirping, no monkeys haranguing in the thick canopy of trees. The sky was darkerningwith heavy clouds. "It's going to rain," Seung-gil said with an upturned face, his nose scrunched. "We should go to the camp first, or else we'll be caught in the rain as well. We're almost there anyway."

"Oh good, you returned, a storm is brewing up," said Phichit when they emerged from the trees. Then he dropped his customary smile, face becoming serious. "Where is Yuuri?"

"Well, there'd been an accident... Wait, not like that," hedged JJ, waving his hands around when he saw Phichit's face falling. "No one got injured. It's just that there was this cat, you see, it sprung out of nowhere, right on me – " "And this moron panicked and started to yell like crazy – " "Was not – " "And well, we ran, and it seems Yuuri went into the opposite direction," Seung-gil and JJ spoke over each other. They attracted a couple of the other scientists as well before they finished with their explanation.

"We have to go and find Yuuri," Phichit said, real fear in his eyes. "What if he tripped over some root and hit his head... Or fell into a bog, or..."

"Stop, Phichit," Celestino interrupted him. "I believe Yuuri is all right. We cannot go searching for him right now. You said yourself, a storm is approaching; we wouldn't get far in the downpour."

"We can't leave him out there," Mila interjected.

Ngoro butted in. "Mr. Cialdini is right. A storm in this latitude is no joke. It will be raining hard soon. We would get lost if we went into the jungle now. I'm sure your friend will be alright. He is a clever young man," the guide said.

"Besides, we need all of you here," Celestino added, a frown on his brow. "We need to secure our equipment and the sleeping gear so it won't get wet."

"But – " Phichit almost pleaded.

"Phichit," Celestino stopped him. "We cannot go looking for Yuuri in the storm. It would do more harm than good. Once it passes, we will go and look for him."

Reluctantly, Phichit acknowledged his professor's logic, although his mind screamed to go look for Yuuri. They updated the others on what happened, stowed away the sensitive equipment and once the worst of the storm passed, Celestino, Ngoro, Phichit, and JJ (who felt guilty for being the cause of this predicament in the first place) went to search for Yuuri. The torches they had were quite inadequate for the pitch-black of the night jungle. They called Yuuri's name periodically, but the sticky air of the rain-saturated jungle seemed to swallow their calls immediately. Finally, after some two hours of stumbling over roots and getting stuck in the wet mire, they decided to return to their camp before they would be lost as well.

Phichit hadn't said a word to JJ since they went to look for Yuuri, he was so mad at the man. He slept very fitfully throughout the whole night, barely able to wait for the morning to come.

 

*

Yuuri couldn't have been out cold for long, but as he gradually came to himself, he realized he was not prone on the ground. It seemed that his arms and legs hung in the air. Where was he? He slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a pair of dark blue eyes, which were close to him... very close to him. Was it the very same man who had surprised Yuuri at the pond? He was leaning over Yuuri as if he wanted to – oh gods, what did he want to do? Yuuri started up, flailing as he suddenly lost his balance. The man above him shouted and pinned Yuuri's arms down to his waist, making strange noises and shaking his head. Yuuri stilled, trying to assess his situation. He turned his head slowly and – fucking hell, they were on a tree! The man started cooing something in his ears. Was he trying to calm him?

Slowly, Yuuri's other senses came to him. His ears picked up a steady pitter-patter, and he saw it was raining. A flash lit up the darkened skies, followed by a tremendous thunder. It was indeed raining very hard, but strangely, they weren't sopping wet. Only a couple of fat drops landed on Yuuri's thight, soaking slowly through the fabric and chilling him. Yuuri lifted his head and saw there was a kind of roof made out of sturdy, broad leaves that held off most of the rain. He breathed in and out. Okay, he was alright. His head was throbbing just a bit – he would ask Maria to check him tomorrow – and the strange man obviously didn't want to harm him, otherwise he would have done it already.

Yuuri realized with dismay that he was missing his glasses, so he had to squint to take a better look at his captor (or saviour?), who looked at him with an intense, steady gaze. Even though the light was low, he could discern that the man was Caucasian and had very light hair, raggedly chopped above his shoulders. They were sitting in a crook of a large tree branch, quite a distance from the ground; Yuuri's back was pressed to the to the tree's trunk, though the stranger had loosened his death grip on Yuuri's arms now that the scientist had calmed down and didn't seem to be trying to fall off the tree. To his relief, Yuuri saw that the man was not naked anymore, but wore a kind of a loin-cloth. Not that it covered much more than the necessary bits, but still. Yuuri became very aware of the man's wiry frame and muscles of steel. He was by no means a softie himself (except for a small pudge of fat on his belly which stayed there no matter what he did) – he wouldn't survive a mission like this otherwise – but his body had nothing on the demigod that was currently securing him on the tree. Also, why was he thinking about the other man's body right now? Come on, Yuuri, you can do better than that!

"Erm," Yuuri cleared his throat. "Do you speak English?" he tried. The man looked at him, but said nothing. Yuuri tried Italian, German (though all he could say was Hello, how are you?), Russian (there the man lifted his eyebrows, but after a while his face fell and he shook his head), hell, even Japanese and Thai, but nothing clicked with the stranger. The man emitted a string of sounds of his own, but they were nothing like any language Yuuri had ever heard. They consisted of a series of grunts and barks and other inarticulate sounds, like those of monkeys, or... apes! Yes, he sounded like an ape. How on earth...?

Yuuri, desperate by then, tried an old cliched method: he touched his chest said his name repeatedly. "Yuuri. Yuuri."

The man perked up and tried to emulate him, and after several tries, to Yuuri's amazement, he managed to say his name more or less correctly, poking Yuuri in the chest: "Yu-u-ri." So, he could articulate. And he had to be intelligent, otherwise he wouldn't realize what Yuuri meant. But when Yuuri in turn pointed at the man's chest, the wild man shrugged and said something in those strange guttural grunts.

 

Well, that could have gone worse, thought Yuuri. Meanwhile, the wild man had leaned back against the curving branch and observed Yuuri with a bemused smirk on his handsome, lean face. Now that his strong arms were not securing Yuuri anymore, the Japanese man felt suddenly uneasy, thinking about what would happen if he made a false movement and fell off the tree. Then he sure would have at least a bulge on his head, if he didn't smash his skull to bits when he fell. The other man, in contrast, seemed utterly comfortable and at ease on his perch. The rain was slowly letting up, but Yuuri knew trying to go back to his camp now wasn't a good idea. The ground was drenched with water, making it soft and muddy, and moreover, it was completely dark now. Only the moon shimmered through the thick leaves, reflecting now and then from the white of the stranger's eyes and once from his teeth as he flashed a smile.

The wild man suddenly put one hand under the side of his head and closed his eyes, then grunted at Yuuri, poking his cheeks slightly and running his palm over Yuuri's eyes lightly until Yuuri had to close them. He's telling me I should sleep, thought Yuuri.

He was tired. But then again, he was at least forty feet above the ground, sitting on a tree branch. How could sleep like this? Though a huge yawn suddenly split his face in two, Yuuri determinedly shook his head towards the man and made a sweeping downward movement with his hand. "Yuuri, whooosh, fall down, big crash! Smash!" he said, mimicking the whole thing, knocking the side of his head and bringing his palms together in a clap. The stranger laughed.

Yuuri let out a frustrated grunt. Cool, now he 'talks' like an ape too. It would be a long night.

Despite his best resolve, Yuuri's eyes started to fall closed after a while. Sometimes in the middle of the night he woke up and realized his back was pressed to the front of the wild man, arms like pincers around his waist anchoring him to their precarious perch, and warm muscular thighs flanking his hip. He vaguely felt he should do something about it... but the man was warm, and Yuuri was too tired to do anything about it, and besides, it felt really nice... And Yuuri drifted off to sleep again.

*  
Yuuri woke up to a fly buzzing next to his ear and crawling on his face. He swatted at it and nearly fell off the tree as his arm movement upset his delicate balance. He shouted, but the fall didn't happen: there were suddenly hands on his waist, and his own arms went automatically over the neck of the man in front of him. The next thing he knew, Yuuri was clutching the other man as if his life depended on it (which, actually, it did right now. Thank gods for base instincts!).

The skies were barely light; it had to be still early dawn, before the sun came up. Yuuri shivered in the damp morning chill, trying not to snuggle in the warmth emanating from the half-naked man he was currently hanging off.

Sadly, he realized just what he was doing when the rest of his mind woke up as well. Yuuri let him go while a blush crept up his neck and cheeks. "Erm, good morning," he mumbled. In the morning light, the ape man looked a bit older than Yuuri initially thought; although, to be honest, it was probably due to the silvery stubble that covered the lower half of his face. It was obvious that the man had made an effort to shave, but as the small nicks distributed here and there over his face showed, he lacked either skill or a proper instrument. Yuuri shortly wondered what would prompt the man to shave at all, in the jungle where he was obviously the only human until now?

The wild man let out a bark-like laugh, observing him with a twinkle in his eyes. In the next second, however, he sprang up, and with unbelievable adroitness clambered down the tree trunk. When he was on the ground, he lifted his face and called something to Yuuri, probably summoning him to follow.

Yuuri laughed aloud – because, what else could he do? Did the ape man really think Yuuri would be able to climb down the thick, smooth trunk of the tree without falling off? "I can't," Yuuri yelled at him. The man cocked his head and grunted again, waving at Yuuri with his hands. "Whoosh, crash," mimicked Yuuri in repeat of his explanation of the previous evening, clapping his hands again. "I would like to live, thank you," he finished, shaking his head.

The man pouted, or at least Yuuri thought he did. At this distance, making out any details was tricky without glasses. But the next minute, the wild man was ascending to him until he was crouching on the thick bough in front of Yuuri. Close your mouth, Yuuri admonished himself, trying not to stare as powerful thighs spread right in front of his nose, muscles bulging as the ape man squatted on the branch. Then the man sprang into action. With an undignified yelp, Yuuri was hoisted above the man's shoulder as if he was a baby monkey and not a grown man, and down they went. Yuuri tried not to shout, though he was not sure he succeeded; his legs were shaking when the man put him on the ground and Yuuri had to dig his fingers into the meat of the wild man's arm to support himself for a while. The man laughed, patting Yuuri on his back, then grunted twice, and nuzzled his nose under Yuuri's ear. The warm breath and the stubble on they man's cheek made the hair at the base of Yuuri's neck stand up.

Yuuri let go and backed away, holding the side of his neck. "What...what?"

There was something like a wounded flash in the wild man's look for a second, and then he turned and started to walk away. Yuuri panicked. "Don't leave me alone! I'm sorry for fleeing... You just surprised me, is all!" Yuuri knew higher primates were keen on touching, which was an important part of their rather complicated social relations. Nuzzling each other's faces was completely normal, he reminded himself.

Yuuri started out after him, heat shooting up his cheeks as his eyes fell on the man's basically naked behind. The loincloth he was wearing resembled a Japanese fundoshi, which meant that the only piece of fabric on the back was a thong that disappeared between his perky, moving butt-cheeks. Yuuri's lizard brain let out a tormented wail. He forced his gaze to lift to the man's shoulders, which was a bit better, though not much.

The wild man didn't go far; actually, he just walked to the tree and stopped, planting his feet wide. When a thin gush of water-trickle reached Yuuri's ears, he realized the man was relieving himself. Yuuri's ears went red. Now he felt like a pervert.

Yeah, well, he could do that as well, to be honest. His bladder was rather full, and he was mildly surprised and moderately proud of himself that he didn't wet his pants during the unexpected acrobatics earlier.

The tree they spent their night on was near the pond where Yuuri fell and hit his head. Which was very good Yuuri – reckoned he must have lost his glasses then. He had an old, spare pair at the camp, but he would prefer to find the ones he was wearing yesterday. Yuuri approached the edge of the pond, treading carefully in case he stumbled upon his glasses. The wild man joined him – Yuuri wondered whether he knew what was going on; it was probably just curiosity – but then he stopped with his hand on Yuuri's arm, addressing him with a series of bark-like grunts.

"Glasses," said Yuuri, making double circles with his thumbs and forefingers and putting them to his eyes. "Glasses, I'm blind as a bat without them. Well, not really, but I really need them to see well."

The man cocked his head to the side. "Glasses," repeated Yuuri, drawing circles around his eyes, feeling futile. But the man's face lit up after a while. He barked twice, ran to the tree and climbed upwards a couple of feet. His arm disappeared in what was obviously some kind of hollow, and it came out with a shapeless blob clutched in his hand.

Upon closer inspection, the blob turned out to be Yuuri's possessions stuffed into a torn, grimy leather pouch: the pincers, the bag with a sample of ape refuse, and Yuuri's glasses! They looked slightly worse for wear, the lenses smudged with caked mud, but miraculously, they were not broken. Yuuri put them on his nose with relief after he'd cleaned them with the water from the pond. The man cocked his head again, cooing something at Yuuri.

With his improved vision, Yuuri could see that the man's cheek and the bridge of his nose were covered by freckles, just like his shoulders. It made sense – judging by his light hair that looked platinum blond in the daylight, his skin must be fair as well, though it was darkened by constant exposure to sun.

The freckles looked very attractive.

Yuuri smiled lopsidedly, and before he let his brain embarrass him further, he patted the man on his head. "Good boy." Oh, did he feel foolish when the man's mouth stretched into the strangest, heart-shaped smile and he jumped a couple of times into the air, waving his hands around and laughing loudly. He seemed pleased by Yuuri's gesture.

Ah well, Yuuri's lizard brain, which decided to make appearance again, was also pleased. Yuuri couldn't help but take in the display of the man's long limbs, his washboard stomach, and oh, Yuuri would be so embarrassed if anyone knew of this, the leather-covered but still very discernible package moving in synchrony with his jumps – all in HD now, thanks to Yuuri's restored vision.

The scientist in Yuuri was shaking his head in disappointment. Yuuri had never reacted like this to other people, naked or not. Never. Not in the locker rooms after PE in high-school, not at the pool-side in summer, not even when his teenage libido was supposed to be at its height. He never felt like he wanted to tap that, or a desire to jump anyone's bones.

Yuuri's reptilian brain, on the other hand, screamed Yes, we tap that! at him like mad right now. It made Yuuri confused. Why now? Why this half-wild man who ran around mostly naked and behaved like a primate? Oh gods, was Yuuri some hidden pervert reacting to animal traits in a human? Did he have a kink for bestiality? Yuuri gulped, shook his head, and forced his lizard parts to shut down in favour of his higher cognitive functions. He had hit his head yesterday. Yes, that must be it.

The man soon calmed down, and after Yuuri managed to decline his offer of a breakfast consisting of freshly-caught, live termites, he tried to explain that he needed to return to the camp. It took a while, but it seemed the man had understood at last. His face lit up with that ridiculously attractive smile of his.

He took Yuuri's hand with a series of new grunts and pulled him after him. Yuuri started to worry whether he did indeed understand, or if he was towing Yuuri into the heart of the island jungle, but his worry proved unfounded.

In fact, Yuuri soon noticed that they were not too far from the camp at all. They were walking perhaps half an hour or so until they came to the edge of the clearing that ran into the beach they were camping on. The wild man let go of his hand, his mouth forming a heart once again. He crouched and started to make strange movements – after a while Yuuri realized he was trying to mimic the people in the camp. He must have observed them for a while, then! Yuuri thought with amazement.

But when Yuuri gestured for the man to follow him to the clearing, he shook his head and backed away a bit with a wary expression. Yuuri sighed in frustration; the man was clearly interested in them, why else would he watch them? He was their own kind, after all.

Yuuri looked at the camp. It was early morning and people were just stirring from the sleep. He resolved to try persuading the wild man to come with him, but when he turned his head back, the man was gone.

"Damnit," Yuuri swore under his breath. He felt like he missed something important. Sure, the man was a mystery, and Yuuri wanted to find out how he came to this island and why he displayed all the behavioural habits of big apes although he was clearly human.

But it was more than that; Yuuri felt something he hadn't felt toward anyone before, he realized with a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach. Yuuri was, on the basest, most instinctual level...well, he really wanted the man. Phichit was always joking that Yuuri would fall in love with a gorilla because he spent so much time with primates.

Phichit would laugh himself to death if he knew. Because now, when Yuuri's libido had finally decided to make an appearance, it was due to a man just one step above an ape...

He was pining for a wild, mostly-naked man who climbed trees like a monkey, didn't speak any human language and ate termites for breakfast. Well, thought Yuuri, at least he was human. That had to count for something, right???

Yuuri decided to keep any mentions of the wild man to himself. Somehow, he felt possessive about his secret companion. He would tell the others sooner or later, of course. Just not yet.


	3. The Cottage in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri has questions. So many questions. But... where is the man? Was he, after all, a figment of his imagination?

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/170087894@N07/47068277054/in/dateposted-public/)

When Yuuri emerged from under the thick canopy of trees, the camp was stirring awake. He saw Chris and the two interns, Emil and Michele already dressed and equipped with ropes and machetes, huddled over what looked like a largish piece of paper. Yuuri wondered what it was, as to his knowledge there were no maps of this island. 

Before any of the men had noticed him, he was surprised by Sara emerging from the common tent. 

Her eyes went wide when she saw him and she cried out, "Yuuri!"

Yuuri smiled sheepishly and waved in return. "Hi, I'm back," he said. 

"Oh my god, Yuuri!" squealed Phichit, shooting out of their tent towards Yuuri. But before he could reach him Yuuri was tackled from the side and smothered into a bear hug, his face smushed into what felt like a naked, hairy chest. He could hear only muffled sounds of someone repeating his name as his ears were covered by a pair of large arms. 

Finally, when Yuuri thought he was about to suffocate, the embrace loosened a bit and he wriggled out of it quickly, to be confronted by his rather distressed-looking professor. All that Yuuri could think in that moment was that he had had quite enough of being confronted by naked men out of the blue; although to his professor's defence, the Italian man had at least his trousers on. But he was still barefoot and smelled freshly like Old Spice, so Yuuri had probably caught him in the midst of his morning routine. 

As soon as he was free, Phichit latched onto his friend. "God, Yuuri, you gave us such a scare! Don't dare to disappear on us like this again!" he scolded. Yuuri looked at the ground in embarrassment. "I'm sorry to cause you trouble. I didn't plan to, it just–"

" _Merda_ , Yuuri, are you allright Are you hurt? Where have you been?" Celestino interrupted him.

Yuuri gawked at his professor. That was the first time he heard him use a profanity. Now he felt even more bashful about the whole situation. 

Soon he was surrounded by the rest of the curious team as he tried to explain that yes, he was alright, and yes, he had spend a night on a tree so he was really, really alright, there was only a small bump on his head when he fell... no, not from the tree, he just slipped in the mud. Luckily, he was rescued by the stern-looking Maria and marched to the medical corner. 

The day slowly returned to normalcy as the scientists picked up their respective work. Yuuri stayed in the camp on Maria's advice; there were things to do here as well. The rain had damaged some of the equipment, after all; fortunately, it was nothing that Ngoro couldn't replace the next time he visited the continent. 

Phichit was adamant on staying in the camp as well; he seemed absolutely determined not to let Yuuri out of his sight for a minute. Yuuri felt bad for making them all worry and kept reassuring his friend that he really was none the worse for wear. Phichit nodded his head, but stayed glued to his side. Yuuri caught him muttering things in Thai from time to time. He suspected that he had heard JJ's name muttered several times together with a swearword which Phichit had taught him years ago.

The target of Phichit's murderous thoughts and no less intense glare at last seemed to understand that he had messed up and had been the primary cause of Yuuri's misadventure. When they gathered around the dinner table, he tried to pull Yuuri into a conversation.

"So, Yuuri, have you seen something nice in the jungle that I could photograph, perhaps?" JJ asked as he plopped to the seat next to him. 

Yuuri turned to him, fork laden with food in front of his open mouth. "Uhm, ah...," he stuttered, throwing a resigned side-glance at his fork to watch his carefully composed portion of various ingredients crumbled halfway back on his platter with a sad _plop plop_ . "Trees?" he suggested finally, wishing he could finish his dinner in peace.

"Aaw, come on, there are trees everywhere," JJ, not getting the hint, soldiered on. "Some nice natural composition, some picturesque nook with a pond, perhaps?"

Yuuri felt his ears burn at hearing "pond". Like hell he would tell JJ about the nice picturesque and very natural composition he saw in the jungle indeed. 

"No," he said curtly and stuffed his mouth full nilly-willy with his food and started to chew with determined vigour.

He knew JJ meant no harm, but right now he was being a nuisance. Thankfully Phichit intervened, reprimanding JJ, when he noticed Yuuri's distress. "Oy, man, let him eat, for heaven's sake!"

Yuuri threw him a grateful glance. He really didn't like being the centre of attention, no matter how well meant the intention. The only thing Yuuri wanted was to retire to his tent and burrow under his covers. 

But it was not to be granted to him just yet. After dinner they gathered around an open fire, and bottles of alcohol came out from a secret stash. Celestino announced that Yuuri's rescue was worth a small celebration. The alcohol was not enough to get plastered (they couldn't really afford to, anyway, there was work to be done and they had to keep their scientific integrity), but it was enough to help Yuuri relax. That's why he agreed when the others demanded he explain in detail how he had spent the night before. Though it felt weird to invent stories at first – he didn't exactly lie, he just left out certain details – the alcohol coursing through his veins helped quite a bit.

"Well, and when I came to myself, I was lying in mud. I managed to clean myself off a bit but then I heard thunder and I knew I couldn't possibly return to the camp before the rain hit, so I, um, climbed a tree."

Chris guffawed and clapped Yuuri's back with a wink. "You could finally put those pole-dancing muscles to good use."

"Chris!" Yuuri looked at his senior with a betrayal in his eyes.

"You pole dance?" asked Mila, eyes wide with surprise. Sara giggled.

"Oh my, you seem to be full of surprises, Yuuri," snickered JJ. Michele frowned.

"Is it not something – what do you call them – chip – dale – strippers do?" Georgi put in his two cents, looking grave. "Or is that usual for American men?"

Yuuri spat out his drink and started coughing, while Phichit almost fell over laughing, the traitor.

"I– no! I mean, not usual, but it's not– I'm not a stripper..." Yuuri trailed off, face growing progressively redder.

Christ chuckled. "You're certainly not a stripper, darling, nor am I. I was the one who introduced Yuuri to this wonderful type of dance. All this sitting behind a computer screen and hunching over in the lab... Something needed to be done to keep us looking good," he said and winked at Yuuri.

Phichit sniggered behind his hand. "You should see Yuuri in pole-dance shorts, that's definitely a different picture from the shy scientist that he usually tries to project."

If looks could kill, Phichit would keel over. "Don't give them ideas!" Yuuri hissed, acutely aware of Mila and Sara's giggles. 

Georgi sighed. JJ started to squabble over the last bottle of beer for the night with Emil and then sat sulkily in the corner when Emil won. Phichit shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Like children," he said.

"Weeell, in any case, it came in handy now when you had to climb a tree," said Chris.

Yuuri, excellent at digging his own grave, countered. "Chris, the shaft of the tree is much thicker than the dance pole."

"Mmm, I bet it is," Chris drawled, giving Yuuri a sultry look.

"Oh my god, trust Christ to make even trees sound naughty," cackled Phichit, while Yuuri tried to sink under the ground and disappear."

*

When the mystery man didn't show up for the next two days, Yuuri started to wonder whether he had hit his head harder than he thought and the man had been just a figment of his (surprisingly wild) imagination. They prepared to move their camp further south-eastwards, towards where they assumed the ape tribe would be. The move took a whole day, and they were pretty exhausted after they had set up the equipment in the new location. Celestino declared they should go sleep immediately after nightfall; being close to the equator, they were all in their bedss shortly after eight. 

Yuuri went to sleep uneasily; he tossed and turned on his bedding, until a well-aimed kick from Phichit made him lie still, at least his body. His thoughts were still whirling and churning in his mind. Something had woken up inside him, something hungry and unsettling. 

Just the previous morning he had experienced another mortifying moment when he had woken up with an erection. His last morning wood had happened when he was in his late teens and had all but disappeared when he hit his twenties. Which Yuuri had been immensely glad about. 

As Yuuri's rotten luck had wanted, it was Phichit who had shaken him awake and then had kept sniggering at Yuuri's wretched state. Yuuri had fled in shame into their outhouse before Seung-gil or any one else had noticed anything.

He had glared at Phichit for good measure when he had returned to the tent and had found both men already awake. Phichit had chuckled, but he shook his head and pulled two fingers across his lips, mouth zipped. Later, he had leaned to him at the breakfast table and whispered: "There's something you're not telling me. I'm patient, I know how you work, I'll wait until you're ready."

"There's nothing to tell," Yuuri had whispered back, not fooled by his friend's deceptively innocent look.

"Ok. Just remember, I'm here for you," Phichit had finished sagely, buttering his bread. Yuuri just shook his head.

 _Maybe I'll take Phichit up on his offer_ , thought Yuuri now as sleep kept evading him. When he finally did fall asleep, he dreamt again about sun-bleached hair and lithe muscles, and about a voice lilting "Yuuri, Yuuri" in a strange accent. The dreamed dissolved and Yuuri slowly woke up, but the chanting didn't stop. "Yuuri," he heard again in a quiet voice. 

He opened his eyes; crouched next to his bedding was the wild man, a heart shaped smile splitting his face in two when he saw Yuuri open his eyes. "Yuuri!" he whispered again.

Yuuri shot up, plastering a hand across the man's mouth. "Shh, you'll wake up the others," Yuuri whispered. The wild man only stared at him with wide eyes and didn't struggle, but followed Yuuri meekly when the latter carefully scooted out of his bed and pulled them out of the tent. Good thing he was the one sleeping next to the entrance. He unzipped the tent as quietly as possible, throwing a glance across his shoulders. Fortunately, both of his tent-mates were heavy sleepers and didn't stir a bit at the commotion.

Once out, he turned to the wild man. "How did you find us? And where have you been you all these time? How did you get into the tent?"

The man just shook his head and smiled at Yuuri. "Yuuri," he said.

Yuuri sighed. "Well, alright, why did you come?"

The man packed Yuuri's bicep and pulled him towards the forest. "Yuuri," he repeated.

"Do you want me to come with you? Where are we going?" Yuuri wondered aloud, walking reluctantly towards the green foliage. The man let out a series of grunts. Right, the ape language.

They stopped under the canopy of low-hanging branches that flanked their small clearing, the wild man looking expectantly at the scientist. "Ok, what now?" the latter wondered.

The man looked at Yuuri, then at the trees, and then threw another assessing look at the Japanese, shaking his head and making a noise that sounded suspiciously like tsk-tsk.

Yuuri felt slight indignation. "What?" he asked, but before he could say anything else he was hoisted over the man's shoulder, and up in the trees they went. Yuuri let out a squeak and then a grunt as his stomach hit a hard shoulder as the man started to move swiftly away from their tents. He slapped the smooth back, and when it didn't work, he took a fist of silver hair and yanked hard. That brought the wild man to a stop and he let Yuuri slide down and stand on a thick branch. Yuuri found his balance, clutching the man's arm.

"Don't do that ever again," he spat out, glaring at the man, trying to regain his breath. "I'll go with you, but not like that."

The man cocked his head and furrowed his brows. He let out a series of sounds and gestured towards the south.

"Yes, I understood you want to show me something," Yuuri said, trying to reign in his frustration. He bit his lip. "Stay," he said as he slithered carefully around, never letting go of the smooth skin, until he stood behind him. The man turned his head, but Yuuri pushed on his shoulders. "Stay," he repeated.

The man seemed to understand and stayed still as Yuuri pushed some more on his shoulders until he went in a slight crouch.

"Alright, I can do this," Yuuri muttered to himself. He took a steadying breath and clambered up the man's back. Well, it probably looked rather silly; all he did was lock his arms around the man's neck and push his weight forward. Fortunately, the wild man was quick-witted, and as soon as he felt Yuuri's arms slither forward, he slid his hands under Yuuri's legs and straightened. He held on as the man let out a guttural sound that sounded like a chuckle and took off running. Yuuri quickly clamped his legs tightly around the man's taut stomach so that he wouldn't occupy his hands. He closed his eyes and clutched hard, praying to all his gods not to let him die just yet, as the wild man cleared the branches with amazing speed and balance. Perhaps he was an idiot, but he couldn't but implicitly trust the man. Deep down he felt the ape-man meant no harm to him, and whatever he wanted to show him would not endanger his life. 

He felt powerful muscles shifting and roiling under his stomach and thighs. At some point, he pressed his face into the neck of the man, and was now breathing in his scent. Despite all the circumstances, the man didn't smell bad or unclean at all. Yuuri's scientific eye had noticed from the first moment that the man was careful about grooming himself. He inhaled a lungful, but the only thing he could smell was green plants, earth and perhaps a hint of fresh sweat. Yuuri exhaled a shaky breath, and to his horror, the man chuckled and squirmed his shoulders under him. Oh god, he must have felt that, Yuuri thought with mortification. But the man didn't slow down, so Yuuri was left to stew in his embarrassment for a couple of minutes more until they suddenly dropped down. 

It must be said to Yuuri's pride that he didn't squeak or let out any other undignified sound this time, growing somewhat accustomed to sudden changes of direction by now. Though his legs still shook slightly when he slid down the man's back and hit the soft ground underneath.

Yuuri took in the sight in front of him: they were standing in another clearing not far away from the sea; Yuuri could distinctly hear the sound of waves hitting the shore. But the thing that pulled out a gasp out of him was a structure that lay mostly hidden in the shadows on the other side of the clearing. A half -dilapidated hut of sorts, almost swallowed by the jungle that was slowly reclaiming its ground. It was built of logs grown over with moss and lianas so thickly it was hard to notice if you didn't know it was there. Yuuri only noticed it because the wild man was pointing to it now and tugging him towards it.

The man pushed the weathered door and it gave, scraping the ground noisily. As they stepped inside, Yuuri could see that half of the roof was missing, and the moon was shining inside, which was as well – otherwise they would be in complete darkness. Yuuri took a moment to adjust; his night vision was not the best. Luckily he'd remembered to grab his glasses, so he saw more than just an indistinct blur when his pupils dilated sufficiently in the gloom.

He blinked a couple of times, a million questions swirling in his mind. Why was there a hut here? How come nobody knew about it? Maybe he should come here with the others and explore it properly?

The wild man walked inside, but Yuuri stopped at the threshold, taking in the small interior. It looked like most of the furniture has remained intact after its inhabitants had left it for whatever reason. It contained a crudely made table with two chairs, a cupboard with broken doors, a bookshelf of sort, a bed and a crib. Bits of leaves and other plant matter were scattered on the floor, and a large, shiny black beetle was making its way slowly across the table.

Then his eyes were drawn further into the room. Yuuri's vision spun and he shuddered when he realized what was lying on the bed: a skeleton, stripped bare of skin and meat. He took a couple of tentative steps towards to bed, only to let out a yelp when he glimpsed another skeleton lying behind the bed. He tried to calm his rapidly beating heart as he approached the crib with a foul feeling. His guts were right: inside he glimpsed a third tiny skeleton, white bones gleaming grimly in the moonlight.

He turned to the wild man, who was standing near the table, observing Yuuri quietly. Yuuri leaned back over the bed and sniffed the air. His nose confirmed what his eyes told him: these people had died a very long time ago. 

A clatter on the table and a grunt caused Yuuri to jump in fright. He felt his cheeks flame up again because immediately he realized it was just the wild man trying to get his attention. He approached the table and looked at the object the man held in his hand. It was an old, spotted mirror. The man grinned and said, "Yuuri," holding the mirror in front of him. And then again, "Yuuri, Yuuri."

 _Uh-oh_ , thought Yuuri. _I must teach him some other words as well_. Then a thought hit him, and he felt his heart drop. Was he mistaken after all, when he thought the man had understood that it was his name? Had Yuuri misjudged the man's intelligence?

"Yuuri!" The man's voice brought Yuuri back into the present, and suddenly, he laughed out loud. Oh, he was an idiot indeed. Realization hit him like a freight train and he couldn't help but laugh. The wild man was holding the mirror in front of his chest, facing Yuuri. The man knew Yuuri was reflected in it. 

His mouth formed a heart-shaped smile, and he turned the mirror to himself, letting out a string of sounds. Then his smile dropped and he frowned. Yuuri stood still as the man walked to Yuuri's side and turned the mirror so that it captured both of their reflections. The man's face in the mirror smiled again. "Yuuri," he poked at the Japanese man's reflection. "Yuuri."

Yuuri couldn't but laugh again. "Yes, that's right. Yuuri!" he felt inexplicable joy at the proof that his assessment had been correct, after all. 

The man put the mirror down on the table with a grunt, after which he walked over to the shelf and gingerly picked up some flat object. He then returned and thrust it under Yuuri's nose, and Yuuri saw it was an old photograph. 

He took the paper and held it up, trying to catch some more moonlight. There were three people on it: a tall man with broad, square shoulders wearing thick-rimmed glasses, an almost equally tall woman, and a child. While the man was average looking, the woman immediately caught Yuuri's attention. Perhaps not so much beautiful as astonishing, she had a waterfall of the same light hair as the wild man next to him, sharply cut cheekbones and distinct blue eyes that shone out of her face despite the faded colours. There was a toddler between them, around two or three years old, his hands high, held by both of the adults. The background looked old fashioned, but it was obviously obviously not here: a room with a thick, ornamental carpet, a fireplace and an overstuffed armchair constituting the backdrop.

Above the three heads were strings of Cyrillic. Although Yuuri's Russian was rather rusty, he could still read the letters: in a child's writing, there was _papa_ above the man, _mama_ above the woman, and above the child, a name: _Victor_.

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/170087894@N07/46941512225/in/dateposted-public/)

A chill ran down Yuuri's spine. Victor. He looked up at the man standing next to him, then back at the child. A tuft of silver-blond hair was sticking from under the hat on the child's head, his mouth stretched in a familiar heart shaped smile. Yuuri looked back at the man to meet an identical heart-shaped smile. "Victor," tried the name on his tongue.

He pointed at the baby on the photograph, and then at the man who nodded enthusiastically, grunting. 

"It this you? Victor?" Yuuri repeated, still astounded. The man's browns shot up and he put one of his hands to his ear, cupping his palm, the other hand on his chest, and a question in his eyes.

"Victor," said Yuuri. "I think this is your name. Do you recognize it?"

Victor snatched the photograph from Yuuri and scrutinized it for a while. Then he put his finger on the name written there and turned the picture to Yuuri. "Vi... vi...." he struggled, failing to pronounce the syllables.

Yuuri's scientific mind alerted him of the strange fact that Victor obviously connected the name with the letters, but he pushed that thought back for later. He couldn't get any answers from the man anyway, seeing as he couldn't speak any human language.

"Victor," Yuuri repeated half absent-mindedly, all but ignoring the man trying to reproduce the sound of his name, as he turned the photograph, looking for more information. But the only thing he found was a date, 1991, scrawled in one corner. He turned the photo back and looked at the toddler. If the child was around 2, it would put Victor around the age of 27-28 now, which would fit. Yuuri was now more or less convinced that the half naked, wild man next to him was indeed called Victor, and arguably of Russian descent. 

"Vi... chhh...".

Yuuri looked up at the man grimacing next to him as he struggled with pronunciation. 

Yuuri took pity at him. "Look at me," he said, touching the man's cheek to gain his attention.

"Victor. Vi-c-to-r," he annunciated slowly and exaggeratedly, resisting the habit of his native tongue to plaster another vocal on the end of the name.

Victor's eyes hung on his mouth; Yuuri blushed, but kept repeating his name, followed by the sound of syllables stumbling out of the other man's lips. Just when Yuuri started to feel foolish, Victor conquered his name. More or less.

"Vikh... to... r," he said. "Victor," he repeated, pointing at himself and chuckling.

"VICTOR," he suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, startling a flock of birds resting on the nearby tree. Yuuri could hear their frightened cries as they took off blindly into the night. He cringed and put a hand over Victor's mouth. "Shhh, not so loud," he hissed. But Victor only laughed and squirmed out from under Yuuri's palm. "Victor," he said, and then: "Yuuri." He picked up the mirror again, turning it to them, and pointed to the both of them, repeating their names.

Victor's joy at recognizing and learning his name was infectious; soon Yuuri was grinning as well and chanting their names just like the other man. 

Victor put down the mirror and picked up the photograph instead. He pointed to the letters above the woman's head: "Ah?"

"Mama," said Yuuri. Victor had much less trouble pronouncing this word; there was a reason it was the first word children usually learned to say, after all. "Papa" followed, and then it was a string of "Victor, mama, papa, Yuuri" mantra flowing out of Victor's mouth, while Yuuri took a look around him again. He jolted as another realization hit.

"Victor," he said, grabbing the man's arm. He pointed at the bed: "Is that your mama? Mama?" he asked.

Victor stopped chanting and followed Yuuri's finger. He shrugged his shoulders, but then he walked over to the bed. "Mama," he said. 

He bent over the bed, looking at the bones on the ground. "Papa?" he asked, looking back at Yuuri. There was only mild curiosity in his look, no strong emotion. But there wouldn't be, would there? Victor obviously had to be very small when his parents died, if they were indeed his parents.

Then a puzzled look crossed Victor's eyes and he walked to the small crib. He turned to Yuuri. "Victor?" he asked, pointing at the tiny bones.

Yuuri's mouth dropped. Had he been mistaken, after all? He shook his head and crossed the room until he was looking into the crib as well. He frowned; there was something strange about the skeleton, but the low light didn't exactly help to determine what exactly.

He looked at Victor again. No, there was no doubt that the man next to him was indeed Victor; he looked too much like the child and the woman on the photograph. But were the corpses then not his parents? And what about the baby? 

Yuuri suddenly felt too tired to solve this puzzle. Perhaps he could return later, with his colleagues, but it was really late tonight and his excitement about the night-time adventure was wearing off. How long had he slept before Victor had woken him? He had left his wristwatch in the camp and he had no idea what time it was, or how to find our.

Victor shrugged again and returned to the table where he picked up the photo. Yuuri observed him. He must have looked at the picture a thousand times. There was even a sort of fondness on his face now as his eyes skimmed the small figures depicted there. Victor possessed emotions towards his parents, he just obviously couldn't connect them to the bare bones laying in the hut. If they were indeed his parents, Yuuri thought again.

Victor frowned. He pointed at the woman, then at himself, and looked at Yuuri, his eyes narrowing into two slits. Then he pointed at the man, and looked at Yuuri again. 

"I don't understand," the latter said.

Victor blew out a puff of air, grunted and tread on the spot. Yuuri thought he sounded frustrated, and registered at the back of his mind with a surprise that he was now obviously learning how to read the other man's non-verbal communication. He should make a note in his diary about it later.

"Yuuri," said Victor and then pointed his finger at the photo. "Papa". Then he pointed at himself, and at the woman. "Victor. Mama," and looked at Yuuri expectantly.

Huh. Was he perhaps asking about the appearance, or...? "No, no," Yuuri shook his head. "Um," he cleared his throat, pondering how to explain the difference.

"No, you're not like her. You're a man. I'm a man. _Papa_ is a man. No breasts." Yuuri mimicked with his hands two globes on his chest, shaking his head. "Man. Like you. Like him," he sidled close to Victor and pointed at the man on the photograph.

"Man," he said again, slowly. Victor raised his eyebrows. "Man," Yuuri repeated. He was obviously capable of abstraction; perhaps he could understand the difference between the sexes.

Well, it seemed like he did, his face lip up with realization. Yuuri's mind scrambled in panic as Victor demonstrated his understanding of the concept in the very next moment. "Man," he said and pulled aside the loin-cloth ensuring his modesty, and pointed at his groin. "Man."

Yuuri squeaked and pressed his eyes closed; his ears were probably going to fall off his head, they were so hot. "Yes, exactly, a man, yes, just please cover yourself!" Now he had seen Victor in his naked glory twice, assuring that the image would remain burned into his mind's eye forever.

He cracked open his eyes, then shrieked. Victor was in front of him, grabbing for his crotch and trying to pull down his pants. "Man?" he asked innocently.

Yuuri shoved him away, scrambling to the opposite direction. He managed to keep his pants on, but barely; he was wearing old sweat bottoms after all, soft and with loose strings for maximum comfort while sleeping. He stopped, panting.

Victor didn't chase him, on the contrary, he stood in a half crouch, looking at Yuuri with remorse in his eyes and making soft noises in the back of his throat. He took a tentative step towards Yuuri, careful to keep his head low, hands splayed on the sides of his body, palms up, open. _He's showing me submission_ , Yuuri thought with a shock.

He understood Victor meant no harm with his action, that he was merely curious. Still, Yuuri was not going to strip just to satisfy his curiosity. And wouldn't let himself be groped either.

Yuuri was still shook a bit as he stared, unmoving, at the other man. He only let his breath out when Victor whined, dipping his head even more. 

Yuuri relaxed. "It's OK," he said, trying for a soothing voice. "It's OK, just don't touch me like that without my permission. You don't understand a word I say, do you?"

Victor cocked his head the side, still dipped low, but his eyes trained on Yuuri's face. 

Yuuri sighed. He took Victor's arm and put it on his shoulder and then on the side of his head. He said: "OK. You can touch here."

Then he took a step back and put his own hand on his crotch. "No," and shook his head – a gesture that Victor apparently understood. "No," he repeated for good measure. He would have to make Victor understand the word.

"No," repeated Victor, putting his hands behind his back. Yuuri smiled, relieved. "No, indeed."

Victor's face lit up when he saw Yuuri smile, and Yuuri's heart skipped a beat. What had he gotten himself into? 

There was a lot Yuuri would need to teach the wild man that now had a name and a past. The question was, how would Yuuri be able to keep his scientific integrity while doing it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note: as mentioned, this story contains dubious science.
> 
> In real life, a child growing up among animals would become feral, and most probably wouldn't be able to integrate into human society, or learn a language, later on. Language developement takes place in childhood, and if this phase is skipped, troubles ensue.
> 
> I will post some links to this problematics later (I'll try).
> 
> Anyway, as this is fiction, Victor did learn things on his own, and will be able to learn from Yuuri, just like Tarzan in the book did.

**Author's Note:**

> Tarzan of the Apes, the first book of the _Tarzan_ series from E. R. Burroughs was my favourite book when I was a child. It was the first "adult" book I have read and at that time, to me it represented the ultimate adventure. I could recite parts of the text by heart, as I have read it 7 or 8 times in row. 
> 
> Now, as an adult, I realize the book has some sesiour issues. It is written from a colonial, white, priviledged perspective: the main hero is a white male, member of the middle-upper/upper class English family, the descendant of the Lords Greystokes, whose parents are marooned somwhere on a coast in Africa. After their death, the baby boy is rescued by a tribe of apes and he grows up as one of their own. He is kind of a Gary Stue - which mens, he is perfect in everything. Non-white characters are treated accordingly, which is with condescension, and are often the "baddies".
> 
> Still, one of the privileges of adulthood is the ability to enjoy things while simultaneously being aware of their shortcommings - a privilege I'm now using as an inspiration. I'll also try to update the science of the original book, but bear in mind this is supposed to be a light-hearted comedy, so the scientific side will be in background, and I will tweak it when I deem it fit for the purpose of the story.
> 
> Come talk to me on [tumblr](https://dreamaginarium.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/olosta_writes), where you'll be treated with previews from the next chapters!


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